Love Of A Blanket
by CBrooke92
Summary: It's been a month since their return from Fairy Tale Land and Emma is still having a hard time adjusting. During one of her emotional shut downs, she accidentally rips her baby blanket. Can her parents save the day?


**Hi Y'all! This is a quick one-shot I thought of. I was motivated when I ripped my baby blanket that I had for 20 years. I cried and broke down, but my mom and dad fixed it. I figured, what would happen if Emma ripped her blanket? Enjoy and Please Review!**

**Description:**** It's been a month since their return from Fairy Tale Land and Emma is still having a hard time adjusting. During one of her emotional shut downs, she accidentally rips her baby blanket. Can her parents save the day?**

Emma walked down the streets of Storybrooke with Henry by her was, some what, back to normal. She got her badge back from David, no James, and returned to being Sheriff. James had insisted that he be Deputy so he could keep an eye on her. Emma protested at first, but eventually caved in.

That was the only thing Emma was struggling with. Her parents. Since her and Snow had return from Fairy Tale Land, they, as in James, Snow, Henry, and her, all have been living in the apartment. Emma felt claustrophobic. She felt like she was being treated like a kid. Snow and James wanted to help her with everything but she refused. She still wants to do things her way with nobody helping.

She needed to get away so she took Henry, who loves living with his grandparents, and decided to go for a walk. She turned to her son who seemed to be deep in thought. "Hey kid, what are you thinking about?"

"Huh!" Henry said surprised. "Oh, Um, it's nothing."

"I know you're lying." She knows because Snow pointed out that she makes that same face when she tries to lie. "What is it?"

"Well..." He paused. "The dwarfs are going to be telling stories at their place tonight and I was wondering...can I go?" He stopped walking. "Please! Grandpa said it would be OK. And Leroy said they want me to come. Please mom!"

Emma sighed. If Henry leaves, then she'll be alone. With her parents. She did not want that but the look on Henry's face, how could she say no. "Alright!"

"Yes! Thank you..."

"But you call if something goes wrong. Promise?"

"Promise. Don't worry, they're Grandma's closes friends and like her bodyguards. They'll keep me safe." Henry hugged his mom.

They reached the diner where Emma's yellow bug was. Henry ran to the passenger door and pulled out his backpack. "She said yes!" He yelled.

Emma stared at her son and saw Leroy exiting the diner. "That's great! We'll be having some male bonding time." He wrapped his arm around Henry's shoulders. He stopped in front of Emma. "Don't worry your Highness, me and the boys will keep him safe."

"Um...OK. And it's Emma, just...Emma." She been called 'Highness' by others but she shrugged it off because she's still not used to...everything. "See you tomorrow kid." She watch them walk away where they were joined by the other 6 dwarfs. She smiled and hopped into her car and headed home.

When she arrived at the apartment, she saw James and Snow's vehicles. "Great!" She said to herself. She open the door and could see Snow making dinner in the kitchen while James sat at the counter reading Henry's book. Dropping her bag on the floor caused them to turn.

"Emma! You're home." Snow smiled. "I see you let Henry stay with the dwarfs."

"Ya." Emma made her way to the couch.

"It'll be good for him." James said.

The three of them sat in silence. Snow came by Emma. "Dinner's ready. I'll grab your plate." She made her way toward the kitchen. "Do you want salad? How bout some potato's? I can..."

"I can do it!" Emma interrupted. "I'm not a baby. I can serve myself!"

"Emma!" James said.

"You know what, never mind. I'll just go to bed." Emma stormed upstairs and slammed the door. She didn't want to sound so mean, but with Snow constantly wanting to help her, it finally pushed her breaking point. She fell onto her bed and grabbed the only thing that's kept her sane. Her baby blanket.

Down stairs, Snow and James finished dinner in silence. Snow finally spoke. "We should go check on her."

"Snow." He grabbed her hand. "Let's leave her be. I think she's reached her limit."

"What do you mean by that?" Snow faced her husband.

"Well, she's not a little kid anymore. She's a grown woman and she needs her space." James questioned himself if he should continue. "And...lately, you've been treating her like a child."

"What! But..." She dropped her head down. "But I just want to be there for her. To do thinks I missed out on. I want to help her."

"I know, I want it more than anything to hold her in my arms, but I just have to wait. She'll come around." He got up and went to his wife. "Give her time." He whispered.

"OK." She replied, letting her tears fall.

In her room , Emma laid in her bed. It's been about 30 minutes she thinks and she's starting to get hungry. She'll have to apologize sometime so why not do it now and get it over with. She got out of bed with her blanket still in hand. When she stood up, she heard something tear. "Oh No!" Emma turned around and saw what she feared most. Caught on the headboard, her baby blanked was torn down the middle. She unhooked it. "NO! NO! NO!" Emma sobbed. She threw her blanket on the bed and ran down stairs.

At the counter, Snow and James saw their daughter rushing down the stairs. She was choking back the sobs and tears were falling from her face.

"Oh my god! Emma what wrong?" Snow jumped from her chair.

Emma made her way to the bathroom and started yanking out the drawers. When all the contents were on the ground, Emma bent down and started rummaging through it.

James and Snow ran to the bathroom door way to find their daughter on the ground. "Emma what..." James stopped when he took a better looked around the bathroom. The mirror was broken, drawers were missing and thrown in the tub.

"Wh...Where..." Emma said through her cries. She stood up and pushed passed her parents. She made her way to the kitchen to yank out more drawers. Silver ware and plate fell to the floor. "I...I...Wh...Where...is..." She continued to cry harder.

Snow had enough and grabbed her daughter. "Emma! What's Wrong!"

"NO!" Emma screamed.

"James!" Snow motioned her husband to help. He grabbed Emma and held her close to his chest.

"I gotta...I gotta..." Emma cried.

"Sweetie!" Snow put both hands on Emma's cheeks. "Tell me, what happened?"

"My blanket! It...It ripped! I'm sorry!" Emma sobbed and her legs gave way. James and Snow helped lower her down and leaned her against the fridge. Snow got up and went to her room. When she came back, she held her sewing kit.

She crouched down beside Emma. "Is this what you wanted?" Emma nodded and went to grab it. "Nope." Snow pulled it back. "Let us help you. James, can you go get the blanket?" Snow sat cross legged in front of her daughter and held her hand.

James went to Emma's room and saw her baby blanket. Tears fell from his cheeks because after all these years, she still has it. A piece of them that's kept her safe. He grabbed it and took it to Snow. "Here you go." James sat next to his daughter. "Come here!" He opened his arms and was surprised when she fell into them. She held his shirt and cried. "Shhhhh...It's Ok. Your mom will fix it."

Snow laid the blanket out so she could stitch it up. She would glance up and see Emma's worried look. 2 minutes got by and she finally finished. "There we are!" She held it up to show her hand work.

Emma moved from James's arms and grabbed her blanket. She hugged it and inhaled it's sent. She looked up and saw her parents staring at her with smiles on their faces. She feels her cheeks heating up and turn red with embarrassment. "Um...I...Well...Uh, thanks."

"You don't need to me Emma." Snow said. She scooted over so she was on the other side of her daughter.

"I know but thank you. And I'm sorry about before. I...I just lost it. I'm still getting used to this whole family thing and having parents that take care of me."

"We will always take care of you. You're my little girl." James said.

Snow teared up when she heard him say that and Emma hid her face in her blanket. After they all calmed down, Snow asked, "So, you still have your blanket!"

"Oh, Ya. It's the one thing that kept me close to you guys." Emma wrapped the blanket around herself and rested her head on James's shoulder.

A few minutes went by and Snow realized that her daughter was asleep. "We should take her to bed." She whispered.

James scooped up his daughter and held her bridal style. "Wow! She's a lot heavier than I remembered."

Snow giggled. "Well it's been 28 years."

"Ya and I still get to hold her in my arms." He looked at his sleeping daughter. With the blanket around her, her flashed back to when he held her as a baby.

They took her up stairs and tucked her in. "Stay!" Emma mumbled. "Please?"

Snow and James laid down on either side of her and held her close. Finally, they can start their life as a family.


End file.
